I have a few cemeteries to visit and - twice a year I visit this park in Dayton, OH.
Decades ago Dayton gave us this unused spit of land along the Great Miami river to construct a Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park.
Using no government money, only donations, the park was opened in 1986.
The land features walking paths, and benches for contemplation.
A large black granite “Ring of Remembrance” lists the names of the 401 Miami Valley men who lost their lives during service in Vietnam.
Two notes:
(1) the black granite is from the same source as used in the Wall in Washington, DC.
(2) At the opening day ceremony the local Channel 7 TV helicopter flew in and dropped off a few dignitaries. Which was pretty cool - watching him set that bird down on the edge of the levy.
The pilot - a Vietnam veteran Huey pilot - then took that damned chopper down to the river's surface and flew several high speed "assault" passes and rotor turns with his bird - which brought cheers and tears from all of us old guys as he flew off....
.....probably to face a fine of some kind. But we sure appreciated his salute! None of us have seen a helicopter flown like that in a long, long time!
Stig
